


Had She Known

by TheArchaeologist



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Angst, Coco feels what a surprise, Drama, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Feels, Hurt No Comfort, Imelda just wanted her husband, Longing, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Short & Sweet, What Ifs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 12:58:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14379141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArchaeologist/pseuds/TheArchaeologist
Summary: Between Héctor’s letters stopping and Imelda finally giving in to the fact that her husband had abandoned her, there is a short period where she is blissfully unaware of the hardships she is about to face.





	Had She Known

Between Héctor’s letters stopping and Imelda finally giving in to the fact that her husband had abandoned her, there is a short period where she is blissfully unaware of the hardships she is about to face.

She is unaware that when she tucks Coco into bed at night, whispering soft promises about what they will do once her Papá is home, that she speaks nothing but blackened lies.

She is unaware when she snaps at a local gossip who spoke just a little too loud a little too close, resulting in harsh words and an odd twist in her chest, that soon her cheeks will be reddening as she passes by the same gossip several years later. That she will still be alone, and they will have all the more reason to mutter.

She is unaware when she spends slightly too much on the small trinket she spots, unable to resist the small impulse buy just so she can see him grin like an idiot when she presents it to him. If Imelda had known, of course, that the money would stop being sent, that the object would, one night in a fit of rage, be smashed against a wall, tearfully scooped up, and deposited in an outside bin, then she would have kept the money. 

She would have counted her pennies, she would have walked straight by the tiny figurine of a guitar in the shop window, and she would have been in a stronger position to bargain with the local shoemaker over prices. 

Had Imelda been aware that as she sat awake at night, watching the stars as her husband lay in an unmarked and hastily dug grave, she would not have denied her daughter something as simple and carefree as dancing, and forced her later lover to do the same. 

She would not have forced the entire family to turn away from music, carefully demanding with narrowed eyes to any potential addition to choose between two loves. She would not have quarrelled at her precious Coco when she found her happy and content with a pair of dance shoes strapped to her heels. She would not have shut down any budding interest in the subject in her grandchildren as they slowly came into their own, exploring themselves and their likes and dislikes.

Imelda would have never left Héctor to the fate of years in the Land of the Dead alone, fading, living in a shanty town where everyone he grew close to eventually fell away as mere dust. She would have never slammed the door in his face whenever he attempted to just _talk_ to her, as adults, to try and clear up the mess of their relationship. She would never had denied him access to seeing his _own daughter_ because of her own bitter feelings, letting Coco decide that for herself as she grew into a woman with her own thoughts and opinions.

“I can’t forgive you…” She says, but later, when she is alone in bed, the chaos of Día de Muertos swirling through her thoughts, she cannot help but wonder…

Would Héctor forgive _her?_

**Author's Note:**

> As if the Coco fandom wasn't painful enough, here's this.


End file.
